Talbot Financial LLC Buys Shares of 14,272 BlackRock $BLK

Key Points

• Talbot Financial LLC purchased 14,272 shares in BlackRock, amounting to approximately $14.975 million, making it the firm's 29th largest position.
• Goldman Sachs upgraded BlackRock's price target from $1,163 to $1,312, while other analysts set a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $1,213.67.
• CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares, representing a 5.32% decrease in his ownership, and total insider sales over the last quarter reached $74.7 million.

Talbot Financial LLC bought a new stake in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 14,272 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $14,975,000. BlackRock accounts for approximately 1.4% of Talbot Financial LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at $7,331,000. Prudent Man Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the first quarter valued at $2,018,000. Allianz SE raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Allianz SE now owns 11,025 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,435,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock during the 1st quarter valued at $40,868,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its stake in shares of BlackRock by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 5,702 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,397,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares during the period. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BLK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on BlackRock from $1,163.00 to $1,312.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on BlackRock from $1,247.00 to $1,224.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Argus reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Zacks Research lowered BlackRock from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Friday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $1,280.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,213.67.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, CEO Laurence Fink sold 14,828 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.28, for a total value of $16,641,167.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 263,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $296,002,472.28. This represents a 5.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Fabrizio Freda sold 4,434 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,122.81, for a total value of $4,978,539.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,936,571.86. The trade was a 55.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,494 shares of company stock valued at $74,694,573 over the last quarter. 1.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BlackRock Price Performance

BlackRock stock opened at $1,160.75 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,129.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,028.18. BlackRock has a 52 week low of $773.74 and a 52 week high of $1,183.50. The company has a quick ratio of 4.04, a current ratio of 4.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $179.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.06, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 15th. The asset manager reported $12.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.41 by $1.64. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 29.68%.The firm had revenue of $5.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $10.36 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that BlackRock will post 47.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th were issued a $5.21 dividend. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 5th. BlackRock's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.39%.

BlackRock Company Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks.

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